The Holidays on the Road

After leaving the Fort Davis, we ventured north east to Lake Colorado City State Park where we would spend a few days before heading to one of our favorite Texas State Parks. Lake Colorado City State Park is fairly large but was very sparsely populated, with only a few other rigs present while we were there. We suspect the main reason for the low attendance was the closure of the lake due to an algae problem. No fishing or boating so that kept the weekend warriors down.

One couple we did see in the park had Maine license plates on their vehicles. Whenever we see this and the owners are outside, we tend to strike up a conversation. It turns out the wife of the couple grew up in Rumford, where Dan was born and grew up in that area. She graduated from Rumford HS in the mid/late 70’s and knew some of Dan’s distant cousins (probably better than Dan did). It was fun to talk with someone in Texas that new the minute details of the small towns in Maine that we were familiar with. She couldn’t believe they are building a hotel at the bottom of Falls Hill either!

On Monday of Thanksgiving week, we moved into San Angelo State Park for the third time and for our second Thanksgiving. We stayed here in mid-December our first year on the road and spent our second Thanksgiving on the road here. We like this park for its location and bike trails that can be fun to ride. The park is just a few miles outside of the city of San Angelo and but is still very secluded. The city has a very nice River Walk that we enjoy and Amy had her heart set on seeing the Christmas lights this year. We planned our downtown trip accordingly so we could be there after dark only to learn the lights don’t get turned on until December 1st.

While riding our bikes along the trails on Wednesday morning, we heard a lot of car horns being activated and wondered what was going on. Our first thought was some kind of parade. When we got back onto the park roads from the trails, a park ranger happened by and informed us that they were about to have a feeding of the park’s longhorn herd and bison herd. The horns we heard were the rangers calling the animals to the feeding. We rode our bikes to the designated area and enjoyed the unique sight of bison and longhorn cattle in side-by-side pastures, separated by barbed wire. Evidently this is a twice-a-week occurrence but this was the first time we’ve heard about it in all our stays.

We left San Angelo on the Monday after Thanksgiving to spend two weeks near Georgetown, TX in Jim Hogg Campground with Rob & Laura. They are new grandparents and their three week old grandson lives in the area. We enjoyed meals together, visiting breweries and checking out the holiday lights in downtown Georgetown. We smoked a brisket to bring to their daughter’s house and meet the family. It was a great two weeks and we would reconnect again soon.

We then spent five days in South Llano River State Park near Junction, Texas. This turned out to be a very nice park to visit, it had decent hiking and biking trails as well as several bird blinds to sit and watch or photograph the birds. It also had a large population of armadillos. We saw many of them and they would occasionally walk through our camp site while we were sitting outside enjoying the weather.

We left the state park and drove a little over an hour to spend a few nights in Fredericksburg, TX. This a very popular destination and sports a very touristy downtown area with lots of shops catering to the tourist types. It also is home to the Altstadt Brewery, a traditional German brewery housed in a castle like architecture. The beer was pretty good but the atmosphere was top notch. This was by far the plushiest tasting room we’ve ever been in.

We left Fredericksburg on the 21st and headed to Potters Creek Park, a COE park on Canyon Lake. We met up with 3 other couples and a 4th would join us in a couple days. Rob and Laura were already in the park when the rest of us arrived and they insisted on hosting us all for dinner, despite the fact that it was Laura’s birthday. It was a great way to get our time together kicked off on the right foot.

Most of us started each day with a group walk of over three miles around the campground. We continued to share evening meals together, including a visit to a local brewery. It all culminated on Christmas day with a pot luck dinner featuring a smoked brisket and some smoked mac and cheese that we provided (see featured photo). Others brought a variety of dishes to pass and lots of desserts. It was a great way to spend the holiday on the road, with friends we’ve met who have become our road family. We hope each of you had an equally nice Christmas day.

Now on to San Antonio for a New Years bash with some of the same friends and a whole bunch more friends we haven’t met yet.